Quoted from ABE_FLIPS:Sure I could make two completely different videos for beginners and advanced, but that might too much work for one person
Abe, here's how I'm going to use your videos and introduce pinball to middle school kids. Keep in mind it's a fun class, but also "educational" kind of...this may or may not help you think about how you want to organize or approach your expanded videos.
The first item on the agenda is to get kids to conclude that pinball is a game of skill, not a game of luck, and that it's more than just keeping the ball in play! So I've structured the learnings or overview of pinball into 4 key themes or areas of discussion around utilizing that skill to achieve a higher score or to get further into a game.
1. Know the rules / know the game / know where to shoot
2. Know how to aim and make those shots
3. know how to control the ball and set up those shots
4. Know how to stop the ball from draining when poop is hitting the fan
I've got 4 days with kids at 1.5 hours each day. I'm covering topics 1&2 on day 1, topic 3 on day 2, topic 4 on day 3, and day 4 is pingolf and stall ball and free play (there is also free play and skill practice on days 1/2/3...)
1. KNOW THE RULES (your videos don't cover this today)
Every game has a different story and a different ruleset. Different shots and series of shots advance modes or multiballs or create jackpot shots. You've got to know and understand that progression in the game youre playing so you know where to shoot. And many modern games have different ways to approach, so you've got to know the rules to determine how you want to strategicially approach that game...and therefore where to shoot!
2. KNOW HOW TO MAKE THE SHOTS
your video: Aiming
This is all about geometry and flipper/ball interaction. The ball can actually go where you want it to go!
3. KNOW HOW TO CONTROL THE BALL TO MAKE THE SHOTS
your videos: (in progression from basic to more advanced skills) Dead bounce, ski pass, post pass, drop catch, live catch, micro flips
This is all about being able to control the ball so that you can take advantage of the geometry and make the shots you're intending! It's about the "offensive" plays in pinball to make the shots.
4. KNOW HOW TO KEEP THE BALL ALIVE!
your videos: (in progression from basic to more advanced) shielding, slap save, nudging
This is all about playing defense. Inevitably, either because a shot was missed or because a shot was required to hit a drop or standup...the ball will randomize, and this is all about playing defense to keep the ball alive until you can apply some offensive ball control
To me, organizing content along those 4 lines helps to introduce somebody into pinball taking them from "you just dont want the ball to disappear...right?" to "wow...this is actually a skillful game of strategy!" So it might make sense to group you skills into these buckets. I like the ideas you have of taking some of these skills deeper and deeper. you're right, theres a ton on aiming you can explore. I think you can make a video that goes totally advanced and deep on each of these skills. But then it would be pretty easy to cut or edit about 90 seconds from each skill to create a "beginner" intro series...or a singular 5 minute beginner intro which goes through all of this in progression of these skills. In the full beginner intro...maybe you you only cover basic aiming/geometry; dead bounce/skipass/post pass/drop catch; shielding/slapsave/basic nudging -- and thats enough to tell the story to someone new. But that content is kind of repeated in each of the deeper more advanced skill dives.
Good luck in your efforts. Your vids are awesome!
